From The Archives Fall ’26

When Miss Winsor founded her school in 1886, she wanted to prepare women to be self-supporting and hoped they would be competent, responsible, and generous minded. Current senior Annabel Jones ’27 ably personifies that goal with a range of volunteer activities through organizations close to her heart, the ripple effects of which are felt throughout her community. 

Annabel’s interest in service predates her arrival at Winsor. At a young age, she turned her love of baking with her mother into an opportunity to thank the firefighters who worked to save her grandparents’ home from a fire, walking batches of cookies and brownies down the street to the local fire station in Cambridge. 

Eventually, Annabel’s delivery range expanded to the Pine Street Inn, Boston’s largest provider of services for people experiencing homelessness, where residents are served dessert only when there is a surprise drop-off. Donating treats to Pine Street requires an adherence to strict guidelines: sharing a minimum of 250 individually wrapped treats and clearly listing their ingredients on the packaging. To these treats, Annabel also added a hand-written note in hopes of further brightening the day of their recipients, noting, “Maybe reading the little note reminds someone that they are appreciated and loved.” 

Years later, she joined her mother, Bryn Zeckhauser ’89, P’24, ’27, wrapping presents during a holiday gift drive at the Tierney Learning Center, a community resource center located at the Anne M. Lynch Homes at Old Colony in South Boston. The hub serves low-income residents of all ages, providing free collaborative programs and supportive services for the more than 1,400 residents at Old Colony. Initially planned as a single-day volunteer gig, Annabel’s visit to the Tierney Center sparked a connection to the community that has grown steadily since. It was during her sophomore year that Annabel, along with her sister, Charlotte ’24, deepened their involvement by helping create Tierney’s Mobile Garden Project. With an eye toward accessibility and ease of use by the students, they fundraised for wheeled gardens that could move among classrooms. The project teaches children about plant life cycles and nutrition while giving them hands-on experience growing fruits and vegetables, and students are welcome to take some of what they grow home to share with their families. Annabel and Charlotte helped plan the curriculum, identify needed materials, fundraise, and follow the gardens’ progress. The Mobile Garden Project continues today, with plans to move the gardens outdoors.

This summer marked a turning point in Annabel’s relationship with Tierney. For the first time, she spent several full days each week working directly with approximately 20 rising fourth-graders. In the mornings, she helped students with math, reading comprehension, and critical thinking, noting that her eight years of Spanish at Winsor helped her more easily communicate with bilingual students. In the afternoons, she played games at Moakley Park, taught the children to play Spoons, judged chalk-drawing contests, and earned the title of “best swing-pusher ever.”

While her time baking and assembling donations allowed Annabel to make meaningful, tangible contributions; working directly with young students forged a deeper emotional investment. Reflecting on the time spent this summer, she shares, “I was helping them learn and grow as students, but I was also getting to know them as people.” 

A lively and insightful student named Faith made a particular impression on Annabel. On a rainy afternoon, she asked Annabel if they might create matching Rainbow Loom bracelets. Annabel now keeps her bracelet pinned to the bulletin board in her bedroom, where she sees it each morning. “It’s a reminder of these amazing fourth graders and the entire Tierney community. This summer especially, they had such a meaningful impact on me and my life,” she explains.

Annabel has long participated in service through Lower School clubs at Winsor and she is now a co-head of the Upper School club Conserve Our World (COW), which she coincidentally learned was founded by none other than her own mother during her time as a Winsor student.

As a leader of COW, Annabel sought to learn how people beyond Winsor’s walls turned environmental concern into practical action. This summer, she secured an internship with Black Earth Compost, New England’s largest waste collection and composting company that processes material from residential and commercial sites into nutrient-dense garden compost for redistribution to individuals, local farms, non-profit organizations, and landscapers. She learned about composting operations, municipal partnerships, and public education.

Annabel drew on her experience with writing and AP photography to help people see the story behind sustainability. She created flyers and educational materials, and developed social media content for Black Earth. She profiled members of their team, riding along to photograph the collection process to help members of the larger community feel a sense of connection to the individuals doing this critical environmental work. She explains, “You can look at statistics all day, but as soon as you read someone’s story, you form a personal connection to them and their work.”

Though her return to school for her senior year has decreased the time she has to volunteer, Annabel continues to support Black Earth as much as she can, and she plans to bring what she has learned back to COW club, hoping that other Winsor students might decide to become involved with Black Earth themselves. She stays connected to her community at the Tierney Center, and she and her father recently dropped a batch of goodies at the Pine Street Inn. 

Underlying her varied commitments is an awareness of both the opportunities she has received and the responsibility that accompanies them. “I grew up with an understanding that I was in a position to help others,” she reflects. For Annabel, these varied acts are expressions of the same instinct: finding a community, understanding its needs, and forming lasting relationships with the people within it through meaningful service. 

Annabel believes students can serve in ways suited to their personalities. Some may prefer baking, writing, fundraising, or other behind-the-scenes work; others may enjoy working directly with children or older adults. What matters is beginning with something one genuinely cares about. Encouraging others to find what is meaningful to them and get involved, she says, “Don’t be afraid to jump into a community and see what happens. Immersing yourself makes all the difference.”